Radiomics models based on enhanced computed tomography to distinguish clear cell from non-clear cell renal cell carcinomas

Abstract

This study was to assess the effect of the predictive model for distinguishing clear cell RCC (ccRCC) from non-clear cell RCC (non-ccRCC) by establishing predictive radiomic models based on enhanced-computed tomography (CT) images of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). A total of 190 cases with RCC confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed, with the patients being randomly divided into two groups, including the training set and testing set according to the ratio of 7:3. A total of 396 radiomic features were computationally obtained and analyzed with the Correlation between features, Univariate Logistics and Multivariate Logistics. Finally, 4 features were selected, and three machine models (Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Logistic Regression (LR)) were established to discriminate RCC subtypes. The radiomics performance was compared with that of radiologist diagnosis. In the testing set, the RF model had an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.909, a sensitivity of 0.956, and a specificity of 0.538. The SVM model had an AUC value of 0.841, a sensitivity of 1.0, and a specificity of 0.231, in the testing set. The LR model had an AUC value of 0.906, a sensitivity of 0.956, and a specificity of 0.692, in the testing set. The sensitivity and specificity of radiologist diagnosis to differentiate ccRCC from non-ccRCC were 0.850 and 0.581, respectively, with the AUC value of the radiologist diagnosis as 0.69. In conclusion, radiomics models based on CT imaging data show promise for augmenting radiological diagnosis in renal cancer, especially for differentiating ccRCC from non-ccRCC.